Spring Break- Salt Pans

Monday morning we were packed up and in a taxi around 5:45.  We rode the 40 minutes to the border and crossed over easily.  On the other side, there were no taxis so we just started walking.  We walked for around ten minutes and then were picked up by a combi. It dropped us at the Zambia border where we were picked up by a bus going by Nata.  After three hours, the bus dropped us at Nata bird sanctuary.

When we first entered the “sanctuary” we were all a little nervous.  It was bone dry, 107 degrees, and there was no one around.  We checked in at the “office” and paid our 35 pula each to camp.  We set our tents up under a tree near the bathrooms and then laid around.  We passed the time by reading, exploring, and playing cards.  We had not restocked our food supply and no one wanted to try and hitch a ride to a grocery store so we decided to make do with the food we had.  For lunch we finished up the bread and peanut butter.  

Around four, we decided to walk out to the salt pans, an eight km walk.  We walked about 2/3^rds of the way and then a nice couple picked us up and drove us the rest of the way.  (Again I’d like to repeat that the people we met and the random acts of kindness we encountered are what made this trip great.) The salt pans were really cool to see.  It was white crunchy land for as far as you could see.  We arrived just in time to see the sunset.  It was awesome!  We decided to start our walk back (since the couple that drove us out had already gone off camping somewhere else.)  Lucky for us (again) one of the tour buses out there also watching the sunset made room for us and drove us the 8km back to our camp. 

We arrived to a fire that Jess and Patella had made.  Since our food supply was low, we kind of just threw a dinner together.  We cooked the rest of the onions and carrots we had.  Then we added an alfredo pasta packet, a ramen noodle packet, bbq seasoning and the rest of the powdered milk we had.  For desert we cooked a can of pears and added coconut to them.  It was a delicious meal.   That night a couple of us decided to sleep outside of our tents under the stars and the full mood.  It was peaceful but maybe not the best idea because my face and neck were attacked by mosquitoes.  I’m currently rocking a face that is covered in bites.  Oops.  

The next morning we got up and finished off two granola bars and one orange, which was all the food we had left.  We jumped on a small bus and headed towards Francistown.  We arrived at Patella’s village about an hour later.  We were able to see her house and meet her family.  Patella and her family prepared a big meal and we all ate together.  It was such a wonderful experience.  After we had stuffed ourselves to the max, we were driven back to the main road.  We hitchhiked and jumped in the back of some guy’s truck.  He dropped us at the bus rank and we paid 7 pula each.  Thankfully, we arrived at the right time because three buses showed up to carry off the long line of people trying to get to Gaborone.  We got on the bus and then endured the six hours back to Gabs.  We arrived around 10, took a taxi back to campus, and stopped at the dining hall for a fat cake. 

And that was the end of our trip.  It’s hard to believe we fit so much into so little time.  I am not ready to face the fact that I am back at school.  I want to continue traveling! I have the traveling bug.  I just keep telling myself that I only have a little over a month of school left.  I can do it.  I can do it!